Impostor Imports: Abuses in the Organic Marketplace

Cornucopia has been investigating fraudulent organic imports and working to call out these illegalities for the past decade.

Greater awareness of these abuses were spotlighted by a May 13 front page story in The Washington Post that documented three cases of fraudulent organic certificates and dubious organic certification practices originating overseas. These three shipments alone represent roughly 7% of annual organic corn imports and 4% of organic soybean imports. Massive fraudulent shipments like these are squeezing U.S. farmers out of our markets. All three of these shipments were from Turkey, now one of the largest exporters of organic products to the U.S.

You can help rein in these abuses. Information about breaks in supply chains or recordkeeping, inauthentic organic certification documents, and fraudulent or altered transport documents can identify bad actors and protect domestic organic farmers.

Contact us if you have information to share about questionable shipments of imported organic grains and produce. We will protect your confidentiality. Email us at [email protected], or call 608-625-2000.

Additional Resources:

Cornucopia’s formal petition to the USDA for new regulations to stop import fraud